Tucson’s Next Creative Force: Val Garcia Leaps from Art to Music as Tortilla Killa

🎨 From Mural to Music – Val Garcia, once the subject of the Running of the Piñatas mural, is now making a name for himself in music.

🎶 90s Sound, New Generation – Inspired by the deep beats and rich instrumentals of 90s music, Val is crafting a style that stands apart from today’s trends.

🔨 Building Beats & Crafting Lyrics – Using a drum machine, keyboard, and digital tools, Val produces his own music and is now stepping into lyric writing.

🤝 Collaborating with Friends – Already working with others, Val is experimenting with different sounds and styles as he hones his musical identity.

🌮 The Story Behind “Tortilla Killa” – His unique stage name has an origin story that started in a grocery store with his dad—don’t miss the fun details!

🎧 YouTube & Beyond – Val’s music is currently available on YouTube, with plans to expand to Spotify once he introduces lyrics.

🎭 Creativity Runs in the Family – As the son of muralist & former DJ Ignacio Garcia, Val is continuing a legacy of artistic innovation while forging his own path.

Tucson has always been a hub of creativity, where art, music, and culture intertwine in unexpected and beautiful ways. One young artist embodying this spirit is Val Garcia—a name you might already recognize from the vibrant walls of downtown Tucson. His likeness is immortalized in the famous Running of the Piñatas mural, a work created by his father, renowned muralist Ignacio Garcia.

But Val isn’t just standing still in a painted scene. He’s in motion, moving from the world of visual art to a new and exciting creative endeavor—music. At just 14 years old, he’s already on a journey of self-discovery, crafting beats, writing lyrics, and exploring what it means to be an artist beyond the canvas. In this episode of Life Along the Streetcar, we sit down with Val to talk about his artistic evolution, his love for 90s music, and why he’s embracing the stage name Tortilla Killa.

Crafting a Sound All His Own

For Val Garcia, music has been a lifelong love affair—one that started before he even knew it. His parents recall stories of him as a toddler with headphones on, fully immersed in the rhythm of sound. Now, as a teenager, he’s taking that early passion and shaping it into something uniquely his own.

Inspired by the rich, full sound of the 90s, Val is producing music with an old-school feel, favoring deep beats, layered instrumentals, and an organic energy that stands apart from today’s hyper-polished digital productions. His setup includes a drum machine, a keyboard, and digital tools that allow him to blend and remix in his own way. Even though he samples music, he’s quick to point out that he doesn’t just imitate—he transforms. “I still chop it up in some ways to make it my own,” he says.

While he’s primarily creating instrumental tracks for now, Val is also diving into lyric writing. His songs are deeply personal yet playful, often inspired by life’s small, everyday moments—like a friend tripping on the stairs or the observations he makes about his world. “I just make music observations,” he says, likening his lyrics to storytelling through sound.

And this is just the beginning. He’s already collaborating with friends, testing out new ideas, and preparing to release his work more widely. Right now, his music lives on YouTube under the name Tortilla Killa, but he has his sights set on bringing it to Spotify and beyond once he finalizes his sound.

A Legacy of Creativity & The Road Ahead

Val’s creative instincts didn’t develop in isolation. As the son of Ignacio Garcia—one of Tucson’s most celebrated muralists—he grew up surrounded by artistry in many forms. But what many don’t know is that Ignacio isn’t just a painter; he was also a DJ in the 90s, spinning records and curating sounds long before his son was born. That influence is clear in Val’s music, which carries the pulse of an era his father once moved crowds with.

Despite his family’s artistic background, Val is carving his own path. He’s not looking to replicate his father’s work—whether in murals or music—but instead to explore what feels most natural to him. “This for me feels right,” he says about his move into music. “It feels like this is what I’m meant to do.”

And his ambitions don’t stop at sound. Before music took over, Val had plans to create his own animated series, a project that’s still on his mind but currently on hold. He describes himself as more of an abstract artist than a traditional one, preferring work that tells a story in unconventional ways. Whether through painting, animation, or music, his ultimate goal is to express himself authentically and share that creativity with the world.

So what’s next for Tortilla Killa? More music, more collaborations, and, in time, full-fledged music videos that will bring his vision to life. For now, he’s taking things step by step, letting his work evolve naturally while keeping his audience intrigued.

Experience Val Garcia’s Journey & Share Your Tucson Story!

Val Garcia’s transformation from mural model to musician is just one of the many incredible stories unfolding in Tucson’s creative scene. His journey is proof that artistry takes many forms, and sometimes the most unexpected paths lead to the most exciting destinations.

Want to hear his music for yourself? Check out Tortilla Killa on YouTube and be among the first to follow his rise in Tucson’s music world. 🎶👇

Do you know someone else in Tucson who’s doing something amazing? We’re always looking for the next great story to feature on Life Along the Streetcar. If you or someone you know is making waves in the arts, culture, or community, reach out to host Tom Heath and let’s make sure their story gets told.

📩 Contact Tom Heath at LifeAlongTheStreetcar.org

Let’s keep celebrating Tucson’s creativity—one story at a time! 🌵🎨🎶

Tom Heath
Good morning. It’s a beautiful Sunday in the Old Pueblo. And you’re listening to Kate RT. Tucson. Thank you for spending a part of your brunch hour with us on your downtown Tucson community. Sponsored, all volunteer powered rock and roll radio station. This week we’re going to speak with Val Garcia. He’s a young musician at the very beginning of his career, and he has creativity in his blood.

Tom Heath
He is the son of the renowned muralist Ignacio Garcia. And Val is also the subject of the mural. The running of the pinatas battles, carving out his own artistic path, blending sound and story. He’s going to give us a look into his world, his music and what might be next for this young talent. Today is February 16th, 2025.

Tom Heath
My name is Tom Heath and you’re listening to Life Along the Street car. Each and every Sunday, our focus is on social, cultural and economic impacts in Tucson’s urban core, and we shed light on hidden gems everyone should know about, from about to the University of Arizona and all stops in between. You get the inside track right here on 99.1 FM, streaming our downtown radio talk, also available on your iPhone or Android using our very own Downtown Radio Tucson app.

Tom Heath
If you want to interact with us on the show, we can do that directly through Facebook and Instagram. And if you want more information about us, our book, past episodes, or just simply to contact us. We invite you to head over to our website, which is life along the Street car.org. And of course, if you missed this broadcast here on Downtown Radio, you can listen to our podcast on all kinds of platforms like Spotify, iTunes, iHeart radio.

Tom Heath
And sometimes if you just ask your smart speaker to play life on the street Car podcast, it’ll pop up. In February. Some crazy weather, some nice weather, some cold weather. But I’ll tell you what, it’s some of the best weather around. And that’s why we have so many people here in Tucson exploring our wonderful city. The gem and mineral shows happening wrapped up recently.

Tom Heath
The, the jazz festival. We get the film festival coming up next. So many things going on, and we want you to, enjoy all of those and share what your favorites are with us so we can get out there and explore. We’ve been getting a lot more requests from you. Yes, you. As, the time goes on for different guests and people in the studio.

Tom Heath
So really, appreciate that. Our guest today, he actually approached us. We. His name is Val Garcia. He’s young man, that’s, a very artistically talented individual. We did a podcast with him about a year ago on a different platform is called Meet the Artist. He has some artwork in the Tucson Gallery, and we interviewed with him.

Tom Heath
Really, articulate young man. So we wanted to kind of keep up with him and found out that he was kind of moving his, his focus into the music world. And we chatted a little bit about that and he said, hey, can I come back on and do another show? And I’m like, absolutely, that sounds like something that would be fun for us to, to explore.

Tom Heath
So we’ve got Val Garcia is, at the very beginning of his musical journey. You’re going to hear that as we’re talking through the, the interview, he’s got, a starting point and he’s got a lot of ideas, and I’m excited to see where he goes. But we sat down with him a couple of weeks ago inside of the show Source Studios there to his Congress and, recorded this interview.

Tom Heath
And we’ll have the, the interview as well as the video available on our website. If you want to check out this young man and, and see how he comports himself on the video. So, Val, I get to welcome you back to, the podcast. I think it’s your first time on this one. We. Last time we talked, you were on the Meet the Artist podcast with the Tucson Gallery.

Val Garcia
Yeah, I think yeah, yeah, yeah, okay. I don’t I don’t think I’ve ever. I mean, it’s kind of obvious that I have a band.

Tom Heath
Well, not to this dude, you know, very few people.

Val Garcia
And it’s really nice. I really like it. Go.

Tom Heath
Yeah, you’re a special guest. You’re you’re early in the process. The last time we talked, you were working on your media are like your, abstract art and your paintings and did really well. I sold some stuff out of the gallery. Yeah. Then you come back in and I find out, you know what? You’ve moved on, and now you got a whole new career as a.

Tom Heath
Yeah, as a musician.

Val Garcia
Yeah, I love music. I’ve always loved music. You. My mom will say, like, first time that I’ve ever, like, had music. It was actually a photo and I had headphones on. And my mom, I don’t know who it was. I think I accidentally took a picture of myself or it was my dad. I don’t really remember. But he he did say like that.

Val Garcia
I’ve always loved music, like during my entire life. And also my mom has said that to, quite often to.

Tom Heath
Well, your entire life. Let’s talk about that, because, I mean, quite honestly, it’s not that a whole long time. Well, how old are you?

Val Garcia
I’m 14. Going on 25, and I’m playing. I know.

Tom Heath
But for those that might not know, my first exposure to you was as a kind of a, a model of sorts. You were a model for, one of the famous murals.

Val Garcia
Here in town. Yeah.

Tom Heath
Tell us about that real quick.

Val Garcia
Well, first I was on a mural that my dad made. He, I remember that I was in this basketball court, and then he kept on telling me, like, come on. Like, get the right pose, like, act like you’re running. And then when I kicked my leg up, my chocolate came off, and then he caught it perfectly right in that little thing, and he kept it there.

Val Garcia
It was really cool.

Tom Heath
And. Yeah. And so now if you’re downtown, there’s a mural called The Running of the pinatas, and there’s a group of pinatas that are chasing somebody. They’ve been probably whacking them with a stick. And then that person is you.

Val Garcia
Yeah.

Tom Heath
That’s how we first met. And then you became an artist and sold some work to the gallery. Yeah. So you’re pretty creatively talented.

Val Garcia
Yeah, I love I just love, like, raw talent. I don’t like, like people who like, like, even though I sample my music, I still, you know, chop it up in some ways to make it like my own. But I just don’t like people who make it too much like the other person, because like, that could, you know, that could really affect somebody, you know?

Tom Heath
Yeah. So you want to make it your own, I get that. So tell me a little about your music. What kind of style is your music?

Val Garcia
Beloved 90s. I mean, you can’t go wrong with that. I mean, that’s the only style I really listen to. I don’t really like the new music at all, but I do really like the 90s because it it gives you more of, like, a, like a fuller sound. Okay. Now, like with the drums, you know, and the little, like, lead in there, you know, I really do like that type of style.

Tom Heath
So what about the music that you’re producing? What are you, a DJ? Are you how are you producing music?

Val Garcia
I usually kind of like do it on this, like like it’s not really like, I guess it’s an app, but I do it on the computer. Okay. I have like a drum kit and like some, some like bass in there, and I have like a little, like, like, I think it’s called, Akai and it has like the little, like, drum pads on there and like a keyboard.

Val Garcia
I usually use that.

Tom Heath
So you make it, you’re making music, you’re, you’re, you’re creating your own sound and everything else is. What kind of style is it? Is it does it would it sound like it belonged in the 90s?

Val Garcia
I think it does, but I don’t know. I, I don’t know, I have to wait till with, what the public thinks about that, but I haven’t put lyrics on there yet, so I would have to figure that out, you know?

Tom Heath
Okay, so you’re you’re putting together some instrumental work. Have you thought about ever working with someone who writes lyrics and working together?

Val Garcia
I have I’m actually I am actually working with two people.

Tom Heath
Okay.

Val Garcia
And actually a very small group. Two. So it actually he actually came to me is actually one of my friends from school. He was like, hey, you said you do music, right? And I was like, yeah, he’s like, let’s do this. Do a video together or like a song together. I was like, sure, let’s do it, you know?

Val Garcia
Okay.

Tom Heath
And did he do did he do lyrics for that or how did you do it together?

Val Garcia
You just we both kind of like. We like, switched on and off between us. Okay. Like one will be me. I like the first verse, and the second verse would be him. The third verse will be me.

Tom Heath
Who wrote the verse.

Val Garcia
I did, I did all the lyric writing.

Tom Heath
Oh, so you do. So you have done some lyrics then.

Val Garcia
I do, all my lyrics are all hand me okay.

Tom Heath
Me I thought you said you hadn’t done the lyrics yet that I it.

Val Garcia
Oh no no I, I just haven’t put it on the song. It oh but I do have lyrics on.

Tom Heath
What do you talk about. What is your, what are your songs talk about?

Val Garcia
I just really talk about myself, which sounds kind of selfish, but.

Tom Heath
But that’s what everybody wants to know about me, so that’s all I talk about. So give what they what.

Val Garcia
I usually just say. Like, you know, like I’m. I’m cool. You know, I’m popular in school. Like, my and my grades are average. You know, they’re in the middle, but I do, I do like, I just mostly talk about really anything like I talk about, you know, like my friend tripped on the stairs. I’ll rap about that.

Val Garcia
Or, like, I’ll put it in reverse, or like, you know, just anything, really. I just, I just make music observations.

Tom Heath
That’s what I call it’s life observations. Yeah. Because I think that’s how most artists. Yeah. They in some way, I think most artists always sing about themselves. Yeah, we’re talking about themselves in some fashion or what’s happening in the world or how they’re perceiving things. So, so your friend who tripped on the stairs is excited because he’s famous now in your song?

Tom Heath
Or is he mad at you for calling him out for tripping on the stairs?

Val Garcia
Well, I mean, he’s still on the floor, but he’ll get there.

Tom Heath
So where do you see this going? Are you doing? Are you doing any shows? No recording right now.

Val Garcia
So I do want to do, like, some music videos, you know, but I don’t want to do a lot, you know? I just want to keep it, you know, kind of simple, you know, keep the people guessing, you know, so it keeps them entertained. But I, usually I would just, like, put a V on there with just the album cover, and that’s just the whole song.

Tom Heath
That’s Val Garcia. Leave it. One more. I already learn the show business. The show business techniques. They’re talking with Val Garcia, a young musician, at the very beginning of his career and, sharing with us some of his, so, his stories and how he’s moving forward with this musical journey. We’ll be back to finish up that interview in just a moment.

Tom Heath
But first, I want to remind you that you’re listening to life Along the Street car downtown radio 99.1 FM, and it’s streaming on downtown radio.org.

Speaker 3
This podcast is sponsored by Tom Heath and the team at Nova Home Loans. If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, continue listening or head over to life on the Street. Khou.com for current events and information on what to do while visiting Tucson. Tom Heath and MLS number 182420 Nova and MLS number 3087, VK number 0902429. Equal Housing Opportunity.

Tom Heath
To Tucson Gallery is where I first met our guest. Today it’s Val Garcia. He is, beginning his musical career. An up and coming musician here in Tucson. When I first met him, we were actually doing a podcast for the Tucson Gallery called Meet the Artist because he had some works, original works that he had done and, brought into the gallery and sold them quite well.

Tom Heath
So his transition from the, the acrylics and the canvas, and he’s now working on the, the music and the beats. We’re going to finish up the interview we had with him. Yeah. And, recorded this couple weeks ago in the show. So our studios, you have music out for people to listen to?

Val Garcia
Yes, but it is instrumental, though, so.

Tom Heath
Like, you certainly leave him wanting more. Yeah. Yeah. Where do people find this stuff?

Val Garcia
Usually YouTube. I’m trying to get on Spotify, but I want to wait till I put some lyrics on there. Okay. And then I’ll start putting on Spotify. I don’t know if I’ll make it to iTunes.

Tom Heath
Right. You never know. What. What? So on on YouTube. But, you said you have done music videos or you’re like, what do we see if we go to YouTube, what are we going to.

Val Garcia
We’ll just send album cover. It’s not rolling. Oh, okay, I gotcha. But when I do put lyric right now, it’s just YouTube shorts because I want to kind of keep it quiet for right now. But once I put lyric in.

Tom Heath
Keep it quiet. Well, you.

Val Garcia
Young.

Tom Heath
What are you saying about my show? Like no one listens now. I’m just. I wanted to keep it quiet. So I’m gonna do your show.

Val Garcia
No, I’m just saying, like, I just want to keep my music kind of at the low right now.

Tom Heath
Sure, I get it.

Val Garcia
But I do want to put lyrics on there. Once I put lyrics on that, I will put videos like full on videos, not shorts. But I just want to give the people just a little taste of what I’m doing.

Tom Heath
Are you, can you share the the the YouTube? Is it.

Val Garcia
Oh, yeah. It’s just totally killer. But two hours into else.

Tom Heath
It’s still a.

Val Garcia
Killer. LS on the killer part. You got it.

Tom Heath
Got it, got it is fantastic. The. Where do you see this going? Is. This is. I mean, because you you’ve definitely creative. I mean, there’s no there’s no question about that. Is this something you’re kind of like trying out? I want to see where it goes. Or do you really feel the passion like, this is going to be my future?

Tom Heath
Like the art, the the the painting was good, but this is this is really what’s driving.

Val Garcia
This for me. Feels right. I feel like this is what my purpose is, you know, I feel like, you know, like, I just like it just feels normal. Like, I feel like. Like this is what I’m meant to do. Like, because I’ve always loved music and I’ve always wanted to make music. I’ve even made a soundtrack for like.

Val Garcia
Like Owen, like cartoon. You know what I mean? Of my own cartoon, of course, because.

Tom Heath
I was going to bring that up. But you mentioned that you were working on, creating your own cartoon. Is that still happening, or did the music take over?

Val Garcia
Yeah. The music, started to slowly take over, but it’s still I still want to make it happen. You know, I that’s one of my goals. I still want to make it happen. But I want to wait a little bit. I want to wait until, you know, like, because, like, I’m not really good at art. If you can tell.

Val Garcia
I’m more of, like, an abstract kind of person. I like, I like abstract because, it tells a story, you know?

Tom Heath
But I think that is being good at art. I don’t I wouldn’t say you’re not good art. I the exact ups. I think you’re extremely creative and you find different ways to think to get it out in the world. It’s like it might not look like someone else’s work, but it’s. It shows your expression, your feelings.

Val Garcia
Yeah. Their emotions. But I would say that it is it it will come soon. I don’t know when, but, I don’t really have a guess, but, I’m working on it.

Tom Heath
But I think that’s what matters. What you said earlier. It feels right. It feels like you. That’s that’s the.

Val Garcia
Important piece that is important.

Tom Heath
You keep working on. And, you know, there’s there will be a time when you look back at this and think, man, that was a long time ago when we were starting.

Val Garcia
But I be like, remember that time when I was 14 and I used to make music?

Tom Heath
I remember the time. And then I was on that podcast, I got super famous. Yeah, it all happened too fast.

Val Garcia
And I.

Tom Heath
So we’ll be looking out for, Tortelli killer. And, we’ll at least get some of your, some of your sounds out. Yeah. And then like if people do you have is, is still a thing when you’re 14, do you have social media that you do that to people. Can people follow you. So when you start doing lyrics and things they can find you or I.

Val Garcia
I just feel like if I put lyrics on there, it just it just sounds better to me because I’m like a lyric listener then. But I feel the beat too. But I’m more of a like, I listen to the lyrics. I kind of multitask when I listen to music.

Tom Heath
Well, I get that, and I know you’re going to be putting that out there, but I’m just curious. Like if if I want to follow, how do I know when the lyrics come out? How do I where do I get that information?

Val Garcia
Well, I did post a small little video, saying that I will come. I will be coming out with some lyrics soon. Okay. I’m not really sure when.

Tom Heath
Oh, I know that. I just we’ll just keep an eye on what’s keeping you. Keep an eye out for when to tell a killer. It’s gets, something changed up on the on the YouTube.

Val Garcia
Yeah, sure. Now, it will most definitely come soon. I will definitely have it there.

Tom Heath
Okay. And at 14, high school, you know, got away. See it for graduation a few years. But, you know, is this something you think that, you know, you want to continue, like in get education in school and go to, you know, get more training in this? Or is this something you just want to have more raw, natural to you?

Val Garcia
Well, my dad, I have to get mad props, my dad, for helping me out with this. So to answer your question, yes, I do want to like, like, do it on my own because I feel like schooling is just more of like, like if you go to school, it’s just more of, like a orchestra type of way, which I don’t mind, but I just it just feels better doing it with my dad, you know, because he has been doing a lot of music for a while.

Tom Heath
To where I met your dad, the famous muralist is is the musician as well?

Val Garcia
Yeah. He used to deejay for, ten years and 90s in the 90s.

Tom Heath
Okay, so I’m starting to see where this creativity is going from. I get it, I get it now. I didn’t I didn’t know that. I’ve just seen his murals. I thought he was fabulous. I didn’t know it was a had the music talent too.

Val Garcia
Yeah. He. Yeah. Okay.

Tom Heath
So you got you got an in-house education. That’s a good.

Val Garcia
Idea too sometimes. But it’s more of just a personal thing. Got it. Yeah. Got it, got it.

Tom Heath
Well, wow. What else do we need to know about you for wrap up here?

Val Garcia
The origins of my name would actually be kind of interesting. Oh, tell.

Tom Heath
Us about the origins of your name.

Val Garcia
Do you want to fix this? Okay, so the how it all started was it was actually in a phrase. And I was with my dad, and I was thinking of a name, and my favorite rapper is Eazy-E. And so I wanted something that almost kind of sounded like that. Okay. But as a nickname, you know, like, if I like, scrunch up Tortelli Killa as a nickname or something sound like Eazy-E, you know?

Val Garcia
And then I just randomly said it like that, like I just rhymed it in my head and I was like, what if is totally killer? And the reason why I said Tortola and not like dirty like a average Mexican person. I said it like, not to be like racist or anything. It’s just like I said it as a white person because I have I’m Hispanic, so I see it as my white side and then killer as my Mexican side.

Val Garcia
Okay. But if you put it together, says TC and it rhymes with Eazy-E or like Eazy, so easy. TC has like the same syllables.

Tom Heath
Okay, so totally killer TC and it started in fries.

Val Garcia
Yes, yes our fries. My dad my dad’s, my witness.

Tom Heath
He’s like, he’s your witness and your coach and and your teacher and everything else too.

Val Garcia
Yeah. Yeah, it was really cold in that fries.

Tom Heath
Okay.

Val Garcia

Tom Heath
All right. Well, totally killer. I appreciate you taking some time to share with us. Yeah. You’re welcome. And I will look forward to seeing the work progress and. Yeah. And, and I appreciate you, risking being coming to famous for coming on our podcast. That is, Val Garcia, the tortilla killer. And, I do look forward to seeing his, his career taking off and a very artistic.

Tom Heath
We saw that in his artwork at the Tucson Gallery. Very artistic, very creative. Also getting a sense of how to express that. So I’m looking forward to seeing what the the years hold for young Abel Garcia. My name is Tom Heath. You are listening to life along the Streetcar in Downtown radio 99.1 FM, and we’re streaming on Downtown radio.org.

Speaker 3
Support for downtown radio is provided by the Tucson Gallery, located in downtown Tucson. Instead of the proper shops attended East County Street, the Tucson Gallery offers original work, reproductions, and merchandise from Tucson artists like Joe Pejic, Jessica Gonzalez, Ignacio Garcia, and many more. For information about other artists, including when they open up at the gallery, head to the Tucson gallery.com or find them on Instagram and Facebook as Tucson Gallery.

Tom Heath
But don’t go bye bye yet. Ted, Brazil is coming up in just a few minutes with his show words and work. He interviews writers and, others from the labor movement. And then at noon, it’s Ty Logan with Heavy Metal, another great show here on Downtown Radio. And of course, you go to Downtown radio.org. You can get the complete lineup.

Tom Heath
We got all kinds of music offerings for you. On Sundays, we open up to some of these more alternative shows, that, you know, Ted has and tie entire myself, kind of Ted tie. Tom never put that together. But we’re the three T’s on Sunday morning, I guess the three talk shows. And, you know, I lost my train of thought there because, I was so caught up with my creativity of the three T’s, but, Ted Purcell, ski Tai Logan, great shows, great people.

Tom Heath
Really good insight. I hope you can stick around for those and then keep sticking around for all the fabulous music that these volunteer deejays put out day in and day out. It’s just really, really good. I find myself listening all the time. Sometimes I’ll catch a, an encore presentation of a show that I may have missed, or I may have even heard it.

Tom Heath
And then I’m like, oh, I’m excited because I kind of know what’s coming because I heard it, the first time. And, it’s just like a really well curated playlist with commentary and rationale. It’s not just thrown at you. They explain kind of why they’re putting it together. What’s their theme, what’s their what’s their thought process. I find that fascinating.

Tom Heath
And I hope you, check it out. That’s on downtown radio.org. Well, coming up next week on lifelong streetcar, we’re going to keep the same kind of artistic theme rolling. We’re going to bring into the studio Nicki Roddy. She is a local photographer, and she’s got a lot of different projects underway. And, we kind of got connected because she is collaborating with some of our muralists.

Tom Heath
In fact, she did a lot of photography for Jessica Gonzalez. She’s done stuff with Joe Patrick, and, she’s got an upcoming project with Ignacio, but she didn’t tell us much about that. That’s kind of a a teaser, but she’s, she’s going to be working with him on some things. So we thought, you know what?

Tom Heath
We we let’s get the perspective of those that provide the perspective of the murals and had a really fun conversation with her, in our studio. And I mentioned I’ve been mentioned this for a few weeks now as we’re doing these interviews, we’re recording them in the show Source Studios. That’s that’s a project that I’ve got with, James Portis.

Tom Heath
He’s he’s the gentleman that helps get this show running every week. And he helped me put together. The book really is a driving force behind life along the streetcar. You know, you know, see him too often because he’s busy doing all the work when I’m out there getting all the credit. But he and I kind of came up with this thought of of putting out, a place for others who might want to do podcasts or just tell stories.

Tom Heath
Could be a small business or a family, or a nonprofit that just wants to tell a story one time, or maybe once a week, once a month, who knows. So we put this together. It’s called shows or studios. And, really, really, really proud of the quality work that that’s coming out of there. When you, check out Life Along the Streetcar and you start to look at the videos over the last few weeks, they’ve all been recorded and shows for our studios.

Tom Heath
So you reference that a lot, but it’s it it really is just set up microphones, cameras and, really good editing. Engineering equipment. And James does a great job of putting together some, some good edits and we get it out in the world. Anyway, we’ll have more on that, down the road. But you can now go to show Source studios.com if you want to check out what we’re doing and, provide any feedback there.

Tom Heath
And, you know, if you have a show or if you’ve got something you want to be doing, talk to us. We’d love to figure out how to help you do that. But if you do want to do a show, but you want to hear cool stuff and just reach out to us on Facebook and Instagram and life along the streetcar and tell us what you want to hear.

Tom Heath
Tell us who we should talk to, what product programs we should be highlighting. Because you’ve got to be in the know. If you’re listening to this show, you’re in the know. Because we only cover, like, three and a half miles. And if that’s of interest to you, then I guarantee you are a hyper locally minded individual.

Tom Heath
So, you probably have some things that we should be talking about, you know, and if you do have like a two tone base to social media account or if you know others that do, tag us in those share, because we’d love to to share your message through our audience as well. I think collaboration said this since the since day one collaboration is a a big key to how we can get this community.

Tom Heath
Talking about the amazing things that, we’re blessed to be a part of. Anyway, that’s, by phone. Streetcars are hand on, on Instagram and on Facebook, and those are our only two social medias right now. And then our website is life Along the streetcar.org. But we don’t make any of this happen without downtown radio. So I really appreciate all the support.

Tom Heath
And while you’re over there on their website checking out, their website, our website, I’m part of the team downtown radio.org, when you’re over there checking out all the fabulous shows, maybe putting together your, your, who you’re going to listen to next, or maybe find some music that you just didn’t know that you loved until you heard on Downtown Radio.

Tom Heath
Look for the donate button because we are a volunteer run radio station, and it doesn’t happen without tremendous amount of hours by individuals who care tremendously for the outcome of their show in this product. But it also doesn’t happen without money to keep the lights on to pay the bills. So we are, anti we’re against the, the corporate establishment rules of advertising.

Tom Heath
We want to make sure we’re offering this to you, inexpensively and with a quality product. But we do need some help with that. So throw a dollar our way every now and then. Well I want to thank James Portis. As I mentioned, he’s our production specialist. Amanda, mulattos is our production assistant. Of course. I’m your host and producer.

Tom Heath
My name is Tom Heath. We, thank Ryan Hood for letting us use Dillinger Days to open the show. And we’re going to leave you today with a Justin Richardson, Sonia Chappelle. It’s from 2024, I think, in honor of, Val Garcia that we chose a song today. It’s called Young and Talented. I hope you have a great week and tune in next Sunday for more life along the street car.